ZENITH OF LORD GEORGE's CAREER. 239 



proached his Lordship with a list of suggested 

 engagements for stakes which closed on the 1st 

 of January 1846, he glanced at it and exclaimed, 

 " Surely I have more animals which ought to be 

 put into these important stakes," meaning the 

 Two Hundred Sovereigns and Three Hundred 

 Sovereigns races at Goodwood, to which there was 

 no forfeit. In the end, his Lordship's stakes for 

 1846 amounted to £35,115, and his forfeits to 

 £22,110, the total number of engagements being 

 479. 



The point in his Lordship's racing career at 

 which I have now arrived was its zenith. Had 

 he not been called away by the imperious claims 

 upon him made by what he considered a para- 

 mount duty to his country, it is impossible to 

 say to what magnitude his stud and his engage- 

 ments might have ascended. Upon two of his 

 Derby horses since he came to Goodwood in 1841, 

 Gaper and Chatham, I had known him stand in 

 each case to win between £100,000 and £150,000. 

 Who can doubt that if he had kept Surplice 

 and Loadstone in his own hands, he would have 

 won such sums upon the Two Thousand, Derby, 

 and St Leger of 1848 as have never been landed 

 before or since ? I have known other rich men 

 who could not stand to win even a small sum 

 on a horse without betraying the most painful 

 excitement. Lord George, on the contrary, was 

 perfectly calm ; his pulse " made healthful music " 



